Catching Up

Monday, July 26, 2010

BW here. I have come here to post a million times but work and life have both been kind of crazy!! I will say, I am so glad we read Blue Like Jazz this summer. It has kept me somewhat grounded and given me something else to think about and re-center some thoughts on faith and life and so on and so forth! I would love to hear ideas you've had since reading it, if any!

I was thinking that you girls could try to focus on some cause and spread awareness on campus. another thought was that we choose something that we take for granted and work together on supporting that cause together in some way. those are very vague thoughts and something we can talk about when we meet again!

in other news, we have not chosen a baby name yet. I know it's out there, we just have to find it and have that ah-ha moment.

work is good, it's helped us get through the summer when it seems like all of kinds of crazy bills pop up. i really can't wait to be home with the jude-man again though. God has definitely provided for us and I am very very thankful.

Alice, as always, we miss you and can't wait to see you again! I hope work and being home is still going ok!!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hi everyone!

Sorry its taken me such a long time to post again. I've been working a lot. Many of my friends here in JC either can't find jobs, have terrible jobs, can't get enough hours at their current jobs... so, I'm becoming more thankful for mine everyday! Rita's is really popular here, and I've become reconnected with several old friends and teachers because of it. Also, I'm enjoying my work at Second Harvest Food Bank. My brother, Will, and I mainly do custodial stuff, like sweeping and polishing. It gets boring sometimes, but they need the help. The time also gives Will and me a chance to talk.

Kylie, I will keep Dollie in my prayers. Also, my great aunt Grace died over the weekend, and she has been in my thoughts. She had heart problems for several years. Although it was a very peaceful and "good" death, she will be greatly missed by my family.

As for Blue Like Jazz.. I loved it! I'm currently rereading sections of it. Quotes that stuck with me from Chapters 1-3 include:

And so from the beginning, the chasm that separated me from God was as deep as wealth and as wide as fashion. This, to me, expresses the extreme material desires that one may feel when lacking a personal relationship with God. Although we're all guilty of wanting things we don't have/need, I think that people who don't develop their spirituality subconsciously try to compensate that "hole" in their life by focusing on wealth.

The genius of the American system is not freedom; the genius of the American system is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power. Everyone is watching everybody else. It is as if the founding fathers knew, intrinsically, that the soul of man, unwatched, is perverse. This whole conversation between Tony and Don is very thought-provoking to me. It makes me think about just and unjust laws. When I break a law (i.e. texting while driving or something ridiculous), it is because I think I am doing the right thing. In my view, the law is unjust; however, perhaps I'm just blind to an aspect of my depravity... and my thoughts spin off from there. Have I mentioned that I want to be a judge one day? Haha.

Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror. Yes.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Hey, So this is the first time that I have come to the blog. I just started reading the book... I am only through 2 chapters. I had to finish the other books I was reading before starting on this. I wanted to have a blank slate. Any who. Summer just kicked into full gear when I learned I will be working 3-11pm Monday through Thursday and 1230-6 on Fridays until July 25.. then I'll be starting my summer class sometime in July (maybe the 9th?) .. I probably should figure that out. Anyways, this week flew by. I never realized how much working causes days to do that.

So God has been working on me this week. Everyday I close at Starbucks with a woman named Dollie. I really like her a lot, I always have. She works so hard to make money for her family. Here's her background: She looks like she is 18 but really she is 33. She got married to her husband Shane when she was 16 and had 2 children by the time she was 20. She and her husband have been married 16 or 17 years and have 2 daughters (14 and 12). Their family is fully of love, but hardship as well. I have just been praying that God will give me words of encouragement. She's not a believer. She wants the best for her family and that is what she lives for. Her husband just got laid off so they are living off 800 dollars a month. I just wanted everyone to say a little prayer for Dollie and her family. I want good things for them. She recently had quite a bit of medical attention for problems with her ovaries and kidneys and that all happened right after Shane got laid off and their insurance was cancelled. So now they have medical bills... and everything else to worry about. She wants to find a better job but only has her GED. I think that I feel for her so much because she is the kind of person I want to be working with when I get out of college. I want to be able to point her to the resources that will best fit her needs and get her into a life that isn't so stressful. She is worn out. I just have been praying for her and her family.

Other than working, I have been missing Johnathan. Him and 2 others went on an 11 day hike on the Appalachian Trail. They get back next Thursday. Summer has been relaxing and a good time to realize all life is meant to be enjoyed not stressed and rushed through.

As for Blue Like Jazz:Quotes that stuck out to me:

"If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God." This went right along with how I have been thinking about our time and how we waste it on things that we shouldn't be.

"I realized I had set the happiness of my mother beyond my own material desires."

"If you don't love somebody, it gets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel, when you love them you get pleasure from their pleasure, and it makes it easy to serve." So true.

Then the whole section in chapter two that talked about how we don't need to look at the world to know that it's bad because we can look at ourselves. I keep thinking about this. It's too true. Like when people say that you cannot love someone until you love yourself. Also, don't date until you know yourself. Knowing who you are, being able to reflect on your character, self awareness is so important. How can you help others when you can't even help yourself, or at least ask for help? In a devotional that I read the other day it spoke of how we see creation as beautiful even when it has it's faults. For instance, the writer said she was admiring hummingbirds and thought how much she loved them, then the hummingbirds began to fight and she got angry.. but then she still loves them despite them. What I think of is a sunset or sunrise. Both are beautiful, but the sun is the main subject in this scene. There are times I hate the sun, I hate to sweat and it makes me sweat. Yet, I will always what the sun at the same time. But the main point of the writers' devotional was that how can we still love these creatures of the earth and nature, despite their negative aspects that sometimes we hate. God created all of those things, yet God created us all in his image, but we don't look past the faults of our enemies or those who cross us. Everyone has a beautiful side, why don't we look past the "bad" or "annoying" things to be able to experience that side of them? So many times people aren't given a chance because of an appearance or their history.

Well I wrote way more than I anticipated. Oops. Sorry for the long read.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Hi friends! I finally made this thing! Please feel free to write whatever you want, whenever you want. It doesn't have to just be about the book! But while I'm on that, Let's go ahead and try to read the first 3 chapters this week and write your thoughts. Maybe in addition to that you can tell us what's going on in your life this week.

Also, I am not going to do anything fancy to this, but if you want to add pics or other blog links or anything, sign in, go to the blog dashboard and do it!! Maybe a cool heading picture would be a good start?

So I started working full time at JBC this week...just for the summer. I miss Jude all the time but I'm enjoying it and actually feeling better, probably since I have lots of distractions. I'm 15 weeks along now!

Alice, we miss seeing you and I hope you'll post soon so we know what's going on with you.